Thursday of the
Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
(Galatians 3:1-5; Luke 11:5-13)
Fr. Paul Hinnebusch used to teach theology to a charismatic
prayer community in Dallas. He said that
he did not pray in tongues nor did he particularly care for other forms of
charismatic prayer. But he enjoyed being
with the community because of their desire to know about the Lord. Fr. Hinnebusch would share St. Paul’s concern
about the Galatians in today’s first reading.
It can be assumed that the Galatians had a prayer style similar
to what we know as charismatic prayer. Three
times Paul mentions the Spirit in the passage.
It is the same Spirit that he associates with the gift of tongues in the
First Letter to the Corinthians.
Evidently the Galatians prayed in ways that are still associated with
the Holy Spirit. That is, they sang songs
of praise to God and even spoke in tongues. Paul does not criticize them for this. But he twice calls them “stupid” because through
a lapse in theology they have assumed Jewish religious practices like circumcision. He tells them almost brutally that they are
saved by faith in Christ, not by religious works.
In our desire for salvation we sometimes lapse into thinking
that we are saved by our works. We may
think that no matter what we do as long as we go to church on Sunday, we will enjoy
eternal life. Or perhaps we believe that
heaven is the reward of all who help their neighbors. No, as Paul states quite clearly in this same
Letter to the Galatians, the only thing that matters is “faith working through
love.” We have to peer at the cross and
say, “Yes, Lord, you are my Savior; I will follow you.” Of course, then we have to follow through.
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